TSMC seeking location for wafer fab in the US

Taiwanese foundry TSMC confirmed that it's considering to build a new wafer fab in the US. Next year the company plans to increase capital spending to a record $9 billion, up from $8.3 billion in 2012. The increased spending should help the firm to expand 28nm production capacity and to kick off production of its 20nm bulk planar CMOS process. Full details at EE Times.

Commenting on speculation that TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) might build a fab in New York, Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of TSMC, said that his company is looking for a location for a wafer fab. "The U.S. is one of the places under consideration. But this has nothing to do with Apple," the Taipei Times quoted Chang as saying. Chang was speaking at the Supply Chain Management Forum in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

It has been speculated that TSMC might be the entity behind Project Azalea that is considering build a factory in New York state, or behind a similarly named project in Oregon. It has also been speculated that TSMC might be considering a U.S. site under pressure from Apple, which has become an important buyers of foundry services for the processors it uses in its smart phones and tablet computers.